The train was on the express track at 65th St. when it derailed just before 10:30 a.m., according to the MTA. The first car stayed on the tracks, but the following eight cars derailed, the MTA said.

There were about 1,000 people on board, the FDNY said. Subway passengers were evacuated through two emergency exits.

MTA chairman Tom Prendergast said Friday afternoon that the incident is under investigation to find the cause of the derailment. The MTA is investigating if there is any structural damage.

"I saw everyone jerk forward. My car went dark," said Connie Wang, 24, a freelance photographer who was riding in a car in the middle of the train. "There were sparks flying."

Wang, who was traveling from her home in Queens to a job in lower Manhattan, said her fellow passengers mostly waited in silence during the hour it took before they were evacuated.

Service was restored on the local F and E lines by late afternoon for rush hour, the MTA said. The M and R trains will not run along the Queens Boulevard during rush hour.

The MTA said all service on the Queens Boulevard line — including the E, F, M and R — will be suspended from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. so that crews can remove the derailed train.

There was limited shuttle bus service running between Forest Hills-71 Avenue and Queens Plaza and between Forest Hills-71 Avenue and 21st St.-Queensbridge. The Long Island Rail Road is honoring valid MetroCards between Penn Station and Jamaica Station.